Sathya Chey
Financial Advisor
“You just have to get out there. You don’t know if you’re going to like it unless you do it. It’s better to just take the risk and experience it.”
Videos
By Roadtrip NationSathya Chey
Milestones
My road in life has been direct.
I was born in a refugee camp in Thailand—when my family and I came to the U.S., we were very poor, shared one bed, and scavenged for food in dumpsters.
I’ve been working in the family business and working around the house since I was nine years old.
It was always my goal to become a financial advisor because I witnessed firsthand what it was like to have nothing and struggle to pay for food and shelter.
I got my bachelor’s degree in finance from California State University, Fullerton, and through the school’s career center, I got my first job as an assistant at a small investment firm.
Went back to graduate school at CSUF to get my MBA in entrepreneurship and venture management.
After working hard and staying with the small investment firm for 12 years, I moved onto a larger firm, where I work as a partner on the team.
I’m also a single mother and am able to afford to let my daughter do after-school activities and try the things I wasn’t able to do as a child.
Keep following my journey
Education
High School
Graduate
Entrepreneurship and Venture Management
Marshall School of Business, USC
Entrepreneurship and Venture Management
Marshall School of Business, USC
Career
Financial Advisor
I work with clients to develop a plan and manage their investments to help meet their financial goals.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Numbers
Business
Problem Solving
Day to Day
My assistant schedules meetings with clients, then I review each client's investment portfolio. More than just focusing on their actual investments, I spend time figuring out what is meaningful to them. I'll spend each meeting figuring out what makes my clients unhappy, nervous, or unsure, and then I analyze how I can solve those problems for them from a financial perspective. I also spend a lot of time networking with accountants and attorneys who can potentially refer potential clients to me.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for everyone
If you're interested in a particular career, just go out there and try it. You won't know if you like or dislike it until you actually try it. And if it doesn't work out, you have plenty of time to try something else.
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Myself:
"As a woman and a minority, clients won't respect and trust me as much as my male colleagues."
Challenges I Overcame
Refugee
First-Generation Immigrant
Financial
Interviewed By
CSUF Roadtrip
California State University, Fullerton students and alumni
